It was late, in a dark and gloomy forest. Finn, a handsome young man, roamed around the woods in hopes of finding supplies for his needy village. He examined the tall trees that covered the sky; flowers and dead branches hugging the trees for support. A small trail but large enough to fit his wooden wagon to place his collected materials.
Suddenly, the sky let out a roar, giving Finn shivers up his spine. The sky flashed in the distance. Cool droplets began to descend in a soothing and gentle grace. The sky lets out another crack as the rain’s embrace tightens.
Finn worriedly walked a bit more in hopes of finding shelter but all that he found were more trees in the distance and peculiar but beautiful flowers in colors of pink and purple.
He stopped in defeatment but as he turned his head to the side he noticed a small wooden barn house. The sides were destroyed, and the glassed windows were shattered, a pattern of glitter was displayed on the floor. The forceful breeze swayed the building from side to side. However, the ceiling stayed impacted; no scratches or cracks leaking water inside.
Once Finn made it to the barn, a sudden wave of tiredness hit him. Musical melody played as the rain touched the floor. Finn sat on the dirty floor: slowly his eyes closed, as he completely zoned out.
After being asleep for a while, an unpleasant sound woke Finn up. He slowly raised his face and opened his eyes. To his surprise, he was tied to a chair, and an old lady stood in front of him.
She wore a long brown dress and a black sweater with a hood. Her hair was long and in different shades of gray. Her face was pale with dark circles under her eyes, and wrinkles. Her nails were long and stained in a bright yellow.
She slowly approached the young man and in confusion, he asked why he was tied up.
The witch responded by saying that he had invaded her land.
Finn repeatedly said how he would do anything to be let free as he was the hope of his village to safely deliver his collected materials for his people to survive.
However, the lady did not care, but as she saw how desperate Finn was she decided to make a pact with him.
“I will let you go,” she raised her hand and pointed at Finn, “but you have to show me a selfless act so that you can be freed.”
The young man did not comprehend what she meant, especially since he was known as the savior of his village for all the help and dedication that he had for them; but he still decided to take the challenge.
Finn cleaned, swept, and washed the witch’s house. He even repaired the shattered windows, assembled a new door with wood from the trees that he chopped, and used the rest to sustain the house’s walls, and every day the witch would go out and collect some plums to prepare a delicious pie for Finn.
The days went by like this, and no action freed Finn, but he did not mind. Although he was working all day and resting at night, he warmed up to the old lady’s company and her small but kind gestures.
She provided him a place to stay although he was captured, she kept him company, Finn felt warm inside. He looked up to her after going out to get some ingredients for the food. He would even find himself smiling as he greeted her.
Finn wanted to know more about her, the things she liked, her younger self, and her name, which he has been constantly asking for, but gets no response.
One night, the old lady asked Finn to help her out in hunting as she wanted to try new dishes. However, they had to travel to a dangerous part of the woods that not even Finn had explored.
The only thing that separates this dangerous zone from the rest of the forest is the massive amount of thick fog surrounding it. As well as the amount of deadlier tall trees and branches sticking out of the ground; but oddly the pink and purple flowers still bloom in this area.
The old lady led Finn to the deepest part of the forest. They could hear the owls and birds chirping, and Finn could feel their stares on them.
As they got deeper into the forest, bushes filled with fruits appeared and the fog disappeared. The lady picked up a berry and tasted it, her face softened in enjoyment. She took another one and handed it to Finn. He gladly took it and placed it in his mouth feeling his body tingle from the sweetness of the fruit.
The lady chuckled at Finn’s reaction. “Aurelia,” she said as she turned her gaze away from Finn and collected some berries into her basket.
“Sorry?” Finn tilted his head to the side and scrunched his face.
“My name” she turned to Finn. “My name is Aurelia,” her gaze softened as she inspected Finn’s face, and his stomach fluttered.
Once they finished filling the baskets with fruits Finn would not stop looking at Aurelia and anytime, he spoke his breath faltered. Aurelia would glance at him and give him a smile to tease.
Finn was about to speak when a heavy haunting howl echoed around the night. As Finn and Aurelia turned around, they saw a pack of wolves marching at them.
“Run!” Finn admonished as he ran behind Aurelia both feeling the wind in their faces and a sharp pain in their chest.
Aurelia ran straight to the fog and Finn followed, but as he crossed, he lost sight of her. He stopped and looked around calling her name desperately, but no answer was sent back. His breath was heavy, his heart raced, and his blood pounded.
In an instant, the wolves had caught up to Finn and jumped on top of him. Injecting their fangs into his skin. He kicked and rolled trying to get back up but there were too many; however, it did not matter to him because all that he could think about was Aurelia. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she still alive?
He wanted to know, he wanted to protect her. He did not want to die without knowing that she was safe; but no matter how hard he tried his strength only weakened.
A thundering sound scared off the wolves leaving Finn on the floor lying on his warm blood. Aurelia called for him and he silently replied in pain. Aurelia rushed to Finn and held him in her arms reassuring him that he was not alone.
A tear fell from her face, and she told Finn to stay with her and breathe. To resist a little longer.
Finn shakingly raised his hand and placed it on Aurelia’s cheek wiping her tears as he murmured “Don’t cry, I am just glad that you are safe.”
“You should have been selfish and saved yourself,” she sobbed.
“I had to act selfless and save the woman that I fell in love with.”
Aurelia’s eyes widened; she pulled Finn closer to her embracing their lips together into a warm kiss. A bright light filled the forest and blue butterflies circled them as the flowers swayed with the breeze. Aurelia’s dirty clothes transformed into a blue gown, her brown shoes into white heels, and her old dry gray hair into a glamorous wavy blond.
Finn looked into her blue eyes for the last time, as she looked as young and glamorous as ever. He placed a strand of hair behind her ear before his hand flopped on the floor and Finn took his last breath.
Aurelia knew that Finn’s death and actions caused her secret curse to lift. She stood up and walked away leaving Finn on the ground, with a grin on her face, the wolves followed behind her, knowing that she would be young and beautiful for two more centuries or until she found her next target like Finn.